Former Big Brother Africa housemate and sole Nigerian contestant at the inaugural edition of the pan-African reality television show, Adebayo Adetomiwa Okoh, has died.
His death was announced over the weekend by media personality Matilda Duncan, who shared the news on social media alongside photographs of the former reality television star.
Duncan, however, did not disclose the cause or circumstances of Okoh’s death.
Expressing her grief, the media personality lamented what she described as the frequency of deaths in the entertainment industry.
“Please God, what is happening? This is too much—one death after another. I am so sorry. This part is called death. It’s the worst,” she wrote.
The passing of Okoh, fondly called Bayo, has since elicited reactions from fans and social media users, many of whom recalled his participation in the inaugural season of Big Brother Africa.
An economist, Okoh represented Nigeria in the first season of Big Brother Africa in 2003.
The inaugural edition featured 12 housemates representing 12 African countries and ran for 106 days, specifically from May 25 to September 7.
Zambia’s Cherise Makubale emerged as the winner of the premier edition.
Okoh spent 91 days in the reality show before he was evicted, finishing seventh among the 12 contestants. He was 28 years old at the time.
His participation came at a significant moment in African television, as the first season introduced the Big Brother format to audiences across the continent and helped establish reality television as a major form of popular entertainment.
As of press time, no official statement had been made public by Okoh’s family on the cause of his death.
